Owatonna risks it all in overtime, defeats Cretin-Derham Hall with two-point conversion

Owatonna put its undefeated season on the line with a two-point conversion attempt in overtime of a football playoff game against Cretin-Derham Hall on Saturday at Eastview High School.

Nolan Ginskey raced around the right corner and crossed the goal line as he was being hit, giving the Huskies a 22-21 victory in the Class 5A state tournament.

Blake Fitcher answered Cretin-Derham Hall’s touchdown run by Ja’Dale Thompson in overtime with a 1-yard plunge on fourth down out of a wildcat formation. The Huskies (11-0) ran the wildcat for 9 yards on three of their four offensive plays in the extra session.

Thompson had two carries for 9 yards, including a 1-yard scoring run, in the Raiders’ possession in overtime.

Hunter Theis threw a touchdown pass to Zachary Haarstad early in the second quarter to get the Huskies on the board. The Huskies took their first lead of the game later in the quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by Tristan Graham and two-point conversion run by Fitcher.

The Raiders (6-5) scored first with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Izaak Johnson to Brady Stoeklen on fourth down in the first quarter. Johnson later threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to Monteff Dixon early in the third quarter to tie the score at 14-14.

Elk River 36, Monticello 29: Levi Harris spun away from a tackle on fourth down in the final minute to get a first down and seal the victory for the Elks at Forest Lake High School. Harris scored his second touchdown of the game on a 61-yard run with 4:24 left to give the Elks (10-1) a 14-point lead. The Magic (8-3) answered with a 1-yard touchdown run by Cale Holthaus, his third rushing touchdown of the game, to get within a score with 1:34 left. Gavin Schmidt ran for three touchdowns for the Elks. Garett Bauer had a touchdown run for the Magic.

Chanhassen 38, St. Thomas Academy 21: Nathan Ramler threw three straight touchdown passes to help the Storm pull away from the Cadets at Osseo High School. Ramler finished the game with four touchdown passes to four different receivers and Josiah Cox had a touchdown run for the Storm (8-3). James Kopfmann, Coleman Zielinski, Kade Bush and Ty Jensen were on the receiving end of Ramler’s scoring throws. Dominic Baez ran for two touchdowns and Chase Young ran for one for the Cadets (7-4).

Dassel-Cokato 29, Fairmont 28: Caleb Smock ran for his fourth touchdown of the game and Kobee Thielen converted the two-point conversion with 25 seconds left to give the Chargers the victory at Minneapolis Washburn High School. The Chargers (10-1) ran a quarterback option on both the touchdown and two-point conversion. Both times Cole Veith pitched the ball just before getting tackled, allowing the running backs to run into the end zone untouched. The Cardinals (8-3) took a 28-21 lead with 5:07 left on a 1-yard touchdown run by Elijah Johnson, his second rushing touchdown of the game. Joe Long threw a touchdown pass to Brett Williams and Nolan Schultze ran for a touchdown for the Cardinals.

Pequot Lakes 22, Annandale 15: The Patriots scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to defeat the Cardinals at Rocori High School. John Elsenpeter scored on a 4-yard touchdown run and Bryar Nordby ran in the two-point conversion to put the Patriots ahead for good with 7:40 left. Nordby had two touchdown runs for the Patriots (11-0), including the clinching score with 1:51 left. The Cardinals (10-2) scored 15 straight points in the third quarter to take a 15-8 lead on a touchdown run by Cameron Ergen and a touchdown pass from Braylon Fobbe to Gabe Westman.